HERITAGE HUNTER

What began as a curiosity and point of pride more than 30 years ago has grown into a passion for collecting memorabilia of Jewish athletes and celebrities—many of whom changed their names to conceal their Jewish heritage.

“It started with a Sandy Koufax (Sanford Braun) baseball card that I bought at a Georgetown flea market near my home outside of Washington, D.C.,” says Delray Beach CPA Neil Keller, the 62-year-old single father of two who moved to South Florida two years ago.“I placed it in a small shoebox for safekeeping.”

That one card grew to thousands as Keller’s collection expanded to more than 20,000 items from a Who’s Who of famous people, including autographs from Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman), Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson), Woody Allen (Alan Konigsberg), Jason Alexander (Jason Greenspan), David Copperfield (David Kotkin) and Jon Stewart (Jon Leibowitz), to name a few.“Even Whoopi Goldberg (Caryn Elaine Johnson) sent her autograph because she ‘feels’ Jewish,” Keller says.

But beyond the fun of collecting and the personal homage to his heritage, Keller appreciates the opportunity to shed light on the extraordinary accomplishments of generations of high-profile people forced to live a shadowed life.

“I’m proud of my religion and want to educate people in a fun way; to show that these are good role models, like Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine,”says Keller, who now writes for the Jewish Journal and exhibited some of his memorabilia, celebrating Jewish athletes during the Holocaust, in January at the Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center in Boca Raton.

“It’s a fun hobby with amazing perks,” he says.“I’ve been able to meet some of the most famous Jewish people on the planet.”